I have 5 traps set on the farm. Yesterday 3 of the traps had bees checking them out. 2 had 6-10 bees flying around and in the boxes that I am using. I am BRAND NEW and not sure when I should check them out again. If the swams comes how long should I let them in the box before I try and put them in a hive? Should I do that at nite or in the daytime? I have one hive of "boughten bees" but a friend said I could get a hive from him if I bought another bunch of bees. I don't want to buy another colony this (my first) year but would like to catch a wild swam. I have had the traps out for several weeks with "no Interest" until now. Really exciting to see the "scout bees" checking out my traps. Should I let the bees start to build comb in the trap before I try and get it so I don't loose the queen? Appreciate any info on how long to wait or how often to check the traps, also should I get them in the evening or daytime.

If you move a swarm trap at night, you will get all the field bees in the box which is a good thing. As long as you have the time and are not prone to fall down in the woods at night, it seems like a good idea to me to collect the box at dusk. I would wait until daylight to actually move the bees from the retrieved trap to your permanent hive. It is much easier to get bees from one box to the next in the daylight!

If you see more than about 20 bees going in a trap per minute and some bees are carrying pollen that is a very good sign! Time to check the trap. A typical swarm is probably about 10000 bees (I would guess). If you have 10,000 bees in a box, you are going to see a consistent flow of bees in and out. Incoming bees will be bring in pollen and nectar. The bees will not be circling the trap at that point, they will be darting in and out on a mission, like a normal hive.

I missed a beautiful big swarm today. 20th swarm this season. A double basketball sized swarm. By the time I got my stuff and got out there, it had taken off :( Pretty sure that swarm came from my Jumbo frame hive of Carniolean bees. Those big frames throw some huge swarms.

I had 2 swarm calls this week I didn't have time to get first one , second one was only 6 blocks away , about a 3 pound swarm, 4 feet off the ground in a juniper bush, it was easy pickens, they are now making comb in their new home. I need to build more equipment, I hate to turn down opportunities to catch swarms due to of lack of equipment. My employer thinks we need to work 7 days a week for the foreseeable future so building more equipment will be hard to get done.

Blue Bee, thanks for the info. Yesterday I took my beekeeping buddy over to check the traps. The one that had 8 or 10 bees two days ago flying around :)had 12 or 15 leave my box trap when I started to open it. We didn't have any protective gear so I am going to check it tomorrow afternoon when I have my protective veil and hat on! My friend has caught seven swarms this year that people have called him about and also a few of his own swams and he said he thought there was a 90% chance that I had bees in my trap. Really excited about the possibility. My friend said I could get a hive from him so I will Wednesday. If the bees are in the trap they will have built comb by then, I guess.

My "boughten bees" are doing great! They have been packing in the blackberry and yellow sweet clover pollen and this afternoon I checked my persimmon patch ( about 30 trees) and they were covered with honey bees! The trees are about a 1/4 from my house where my "boughten bee" are so I imagine they were getting a drink along with the local wild bees! I have never had persimmons on these trees and was surprised to see all the blosooms and bees! Thanks again, Blue Bee, for our input. Best of luck this year. :)

The 2 swarms I had spotted Friday afternoon didn't wait for me to get out of work. I headed home with a empty truck. Just as I got to my property line I spoted a swarm (one of mine) in the air near my barn. They stayed in the air for a good 5 minutes moving slowly across my field and came to rest in a low bush. This is number 16Sat afternoon got a call from a friend that had a good one in the high branches of a think bush. This would be a pole and bucket job. When I got there a 2nd small one had arrived. These are 17 & 18

On Sunday I headed to my new yard to see how the queens had been working and found #19 a couple ft off the ground.

This is swarm #20 caught after work on Weds. This was also the same location of a earlier one that I didn't get pic of and a really large one last year. Last year they had started building a open air hive so the smells are still there.

I caught my first wild bees yesterday. Had the trap out for two or three weeks. Moved them to a hive box last nite. QUESTION? Should I feed them sugar water for a while? There were two combs aready in the box. A 4 x6 piece and a 3" piece. I put them in the hive box with the bees. I don't think there was over 2 or 3 lbs of bees.

After I put the in the box the remaining bees went into the new hive box so I guess I got the queen? Going to check tomorrow evening to see that they are still using the new hive. I left it in the same place and position as the trap box. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The answer to your question probably varies somewhat by the local nectar flow. Here in Michigan, I have never given a swarm sugar water. We have lots of things blooming and there seems to be no shortage of nectar for the bees. Hence in my case, I don’t feed sugar water because it can set off robbing in my yard. Most of the time I do try to put a frame of comb in a hive with a swarm, but not always. I’ve caught about 25 swarms this spring and haven’t had a single one abscond yet; food or not. (LOL, maybe they like my foam :-D)

I would think the comb you added to the hive would be plenty for your 3 lbs of bees if you also have plenty of flowers/clover blooming. Sugar water is probably ok as long as there are not a lot of other bees close by to rob out your wild bees. In my case, I have lots of big hives close to small ones and robbing can be a problem even in times of plenty (like now).

This would have been swarm #21. I spotted it during lunch back in my field. Called they guy I'm mentoring telling him I'd wait until he could get here. We took a pic of him and this one of me and suddenly all hell broke loose. They decide its time to leave and in a matter of 30 seconds they were in the air. We followed they for to my north property line. It was exciting for my student. Oh well ya win some and loose some

Things have slowed way down here, I'm going to have to throw the camera in the truck. I never have it ready when I need it.

I thought things were slowing down here also until yesterday. I found 4 large swarms in 2 locations. I cant take anymore so I called a friend. He has over 50 this year. I ran out of deep frames yesterday. just bought another 20 used deeps with drawn frames. Still need about 20 deeps more.

I still have about 20 boxes left also. I really dont need the deep boxes just frames. I did 300 new deep frames this year. I have one yard of 5 pallets that are on 75% new foundation. They wont make honey for me this year